NOVELTY, Ohio -- By the last two weeks of the school year, the minds of most students are already on summer vacation.

Students at Laurel School in Shaker Heights were taking a field trip back to the year 600 A.D.

The seventh graders traveled to the school's Butler Campus in Novelty and spent their last two weeks on a simulated archeological dig, making discoveries about the Whittlesey tribe -- Paleo Indians who lived along the Cuyahoga River from 600-1000 A.D.

Prior to their arrival, teachers had arranged for a bulldozer to bury pottery, nuts, tools, arrowheads and other artifacts, haphazardly and at various depths, in a 10-by-10 meter square.

The students worked in pairs, each pair assigned to a 2-by-2 meter section, a foot deep.

Then, they slowly began to put everything they had learned throughout the year to use.

"This is the culmination of their Humanities program," said Carrie Ruhrkraut, a seventh-grade team leader who teaches middle school math at Laurel. "We debated the use of Native Americans as mascots, from their perspective as seventh graders. After they unearth this Whittlesy site, we'll talk about whether or not their perspectives have changed."

While on the site, the girls were in constant motion, kneeling on the wet sand, carefully scraping or brushing layer after layer, in search of clues to the Whittlesy lifestyle. They worked with their partners, screening bucketsful of sand, then running to help another student plot the location of her find on the 2x2 grid.

"I found an artifact!" Olivia DeLorezo shouted as she quickly brushed the sand away from something small and dark, less than the size of a quarter.

"Wait, I'll get the tape measure," yelled Emerson Coy from an adjacent square, as she jumped over the pink and yellow strings marking each plot. The girls note the position of the find, it's directional location and it's depth.

"The depth of the artifact tells a story as well," leader Ruhrkraut said. "If this is buried a little bit deeper, what does that tell you?"

"It could be older," the girls answered. "Correct," Ruhrkraut replied.

"The girls have to use their math and geometry skills to look at the dig and picture it as a three dimensional space," Ruhrkraut said as she listened to the girls speculate on what Olivia found. They determined, correctly, that it was a nut, helping to bolster their observations on the corn, beans and nuts they have found, confirming that the Whittlesy people were known as a "Maize Tribe."

A volunteer helped pour a particularly heavy bucket of sand into the screen box two students held. The woman, Maia Rucker of Cleveland Heights, is a Laurel alumnus, about to celebrate her 20th class reunion. She kept an eye on her daughter, Sidney Rucker. The student's legs were spread in a wide vee, knee-high red rubber boots speckled with sand. Sidney said she loves the outdoors, but doesn't particularly like to get muddy. She does, however, like to get into her work. She was covered.

"I already know I'm going to have to wash everything you have on, including you, probably," Maia said to her daughter, smiling. "You're gonna need a two year shower."

Sidney soon discovered a pottery shard, plotted it with the help of Zellie Winterich, then placed a red flag to mark the location.

"Since we're always inside the classroom, it's nice to have a change of scenery," Sidney said. "There's only so much a textbook can teach you."

Her mother smiled at her daughter's wisdom.

"I've discovered that a large part of this process is they've learned to work together," Maia said, watching "her" girls with obvious pride. "Communication has increased. 'Please' and 'thank you' is happening, and they see how that kindness makes things easier." She stepped a bit closer to the girls, watching to see if anyone needed her help.

"They have become more resilient," she said. Some come out here and haven't found a thing, but they are all committed to completing the process. Even though this is the end of the year, they are building new friendships, and learning together."